Mombasa tea auction to introduce electronic trading
Africa's tea auction capital Mombasa is set to move away from traditional auction format by adopting electronic trading by 2013. Mombasa's tea auction, dating back to colonial times, trades approximately 380,000 tons of tea every year and the electronic trading platform, already used in India, should improve transparency, increase efficiency and save on warehousing costs. The teas will henceforth be shipped directly from the producer, saving a trip to Kenya's capital. Mombasa's tea auction sells tea from nine East African countries to around 70 buyers that gather every Monday and Tuesday to purchase the crop. Most shipments are currently destined for Muslim countries including Egypt and Pakistan. According to market data, Kenya is the world's third-largest tea producer after China and India.